Do you hate your job? Do you want a career change for any reason?
If so, you might feel like you have to stick with it, because living without an income is hard, and work experience doesn't always translate well into unrelated fields. But I'm going to share with you a new way to change careers and do it quickly. This option wasn't even available until early 2012.
There's one big caveat – this is all about computer programming:if you're interested in learning programming, you can realistically change your career very quickly (and profitably) by signing up for a boot camp. programming. If programming isn't for you and you still want to get out, my offhand suggestion is to look into freelancing or check out your current skills (on sites like Odesk or Elance). But if you're open to programming as a career, you'll be keenly interested in reading the next sentence.
Training camp schedule
What if I told you that you could take a three-month training course and then have a better than 90% chance of getting a job with a starting salary of over $80,000 a year?
I'd like to introduce you to the training camp schedule, and yes, those numbers are real.
Programming boot camps are popping up all over the United States, with most residing in San Francisco. There are now even programming bootcamps in Australia (Sydney Development Camp, Polycademy) and Israel (10x.org.il). Boot camps attract students by offering a large skill set (and the likelihood of a large salary) in exchange for an average tuition of around $12,000 and 9-12 weeks of intense learning. /P>
One boot camp, App Academy, is so assured of your job prospects, they won't even charge you unless you get a job after graduation. They take 15% of your starting salary the first year at your new job. It seems to work for them. "95% of our graduates have offers or are currently working in technology jobs for an average salary of $91,000 . (App Academy website)
Students learn basic and advanced programming in languages such as Javascript and Ruby on Rails. The immersive learning environment includes personalized guidance from experienced programmers. Students' lives are scheduled for these 9-12 weeks, and boot camps expect them to clear their schedule to focus on learning.
Some boot camps offer unique benefits. Hack Reactor in San Francisco includes a gym membership in its curriculum and gives students a mid-day break to exercise, which makes sense given the mental benefits of exercise. P>
When and where did it start?
It all started in February 2012 with a start-up called Dev Bootcamp, located in San Francisco. A group of programmers decided they could teach others the essential programming skills they needed for a lucrative job in Silicon Valley in just nine weeks. And so the first lesson was over.
When their students started getting jobs with over $80,000 salaries at some of the hottest tech companies and start-ups, a surge in demand came and copycat bootcamps emerged. Some boot camps were created by former Dev Bootcamp students. In its first year, Dev Bootcamp boasted the following impressive stats:
“In 2012, over 90% of graduates looking for a job found one within 2 months, with an average starting salary of over $80,000.” (Developer Bootcamp)
A year and a half after the launch of Dev Bootcamp, coding bootcamps have multiplied like rabbits and there are almost 30 now. But if you're considering joining a coding boot camp, do your research and understand the risks, four of which are covered later in this article.
Avi Flombaum, Dean of Flatiron School in New York, gives this advice for choosing a boot camp:
“Many other programs seem to be started by people who barely know how to code or who have never taught. Ultimately, whatever program you are considering, find out who will teach you. How long has this person been teaching? What is his philosophy? Do you connect with this person? Sit in a class. Talk to students who learned with this teacher. Find out what these students are doing today. Find the person you connect with the most, who inspires you the most, and choose that teacher. (From Quora)
Many new bootcamps recognize this concern and typically offer their first class of students a deep tuition discount. After the first graduation drink, the school will have placement rates and starting salaries to prove their worth. Flatiron School certainly has that in spades – “Last semester we ended up with 100% placement within 5 weeks of graduation,” Flombaum said.
It might be best to apply early, before it gets even harder to get in (and before the market is saturated with qualified programmers). Did I mention it was hard to get in?
A 5-15% acceptance rate is common for these schools. The App Academy accepts less than 5% of applicants — less than Harvard's acceptance rate — and that percentage will likely decline as demand for these programs outstrips supply. Flatiron says they accept about 10% of applicants.
Do you need programming experience?
It helps if you have prior programming experience, and most (if not all) bootcamps will test your coding prowess as part of the application process, but no bootcamps I've seen explicitly require experience prior programming. “Alumni backgrounds range from pro-poker players and Major League Baseball scouts to Wall Street traders, lawyers and even customer service representatives,” says Flombaum.
If you view bootcamps as professional training – as potential employers seem to do and as very high placement rates suggest – you can orchestrate a major career change very quickly. Once you're accepted into a credible school, and as long as you stick with it, you'll have a very good chance of getting employed if history repeats itself.
As for the determining factor for entry, bootcamps all seem to be saying the same thing – being self-sufficient with a strong desire to learn programming is the most important factor for admission.
Good Choice for High School Grads – College or Boot Camp?
High school grads interested in IT now have a choice:four years of college followed by tens of thousands of dollars in debt with questionable job prospects or a programming boot camp for three months with around 90% chance to win a lot of money. their tuition very quickly.
As a former computer major, I can tell you that these boot camps are different day and night from my fast-paced college experience. One of the benefits of boot camps is learning the exact skills that potential employers are looking for, which could give them an edge even over computer science graduates. When I got my finance degree and potential portfolio, employers said, “Yeah, but where is your experience?” It wasn't what I wanted to hear after being led to believe that graduating was a golden ticket to a good job. Now I'm happy on a different path, but that's another story.
Computer science majors will gain greater knowledge of the underlying theory and principles, but how much does that matter?
“Employers, on the other hand, are extremely frustrated with developers coming to them for jobs who know nothing about source code control, tdd and other aspects of modern application development practices that are not taught at most colleges.”
~ Eric Wise, Founder of the Software Craftsmanship Guild
The colleges at the moment seem like slow giants surrounded by these nimble boot camp schools. The pace of technology outpaces the speed at which colleges can change and approve curricula, and the onus is on the professor to keep abreast of the latest technologies. If it's up to me, I'll pick the team of guys who work on the cutting edge, who can change their school's curriculum mid-semester to reflect changes in technology.
But scheduling boot camps is not without its risks. Here are four big ones to consider.
Four Risks of Coding Boot Camp
1. Not finding a job after graduation. "Dev Bootcamp lets you become a software developer, but if you don't get a job soon after graduation, you can quickly lose most of the skills you've learned." ~Developer Bootcamp
2. Can you handle this? “The attrition rate is around 10-15%. The course is intense, and although we do our best to ensure that struggling students receive the support they need, not all students do. ~App Academy
3. Be careful which bootcamp you choose. “Many other programs seem to be started by people who barely know how to code or who have never taught.” ~Avi Flombaum of the Flatiron School
4. The cost. It doesn't come cheap to join a coding boot camp. Add the cost of moving and finding accommodation, and it becomes very expensive, increasing the risk. Many boot camps offer payment plans, but you will find some that require full upfront payment. I think App Academy's acceptance rate is so low because they only charge tuition after graduates find jobs, which reduces this risk and increases interest in their program.
Resources
If you are seriously considering a programming internship, I recommend you check out the following resources:
• Codeacademy.com – With this free programming tutorial, you can get an idea of what programming is all about and prepare for the application test.
• Boot Camps – If you want to compare different bootcamps by location, tuition, placement policies, etc. I recommend this website.
• This blog post (from a Dev Bootcamp graduate) – This is an honest discussion about one man's experience and thoughts in a programming boot camp. It even includes his original request.
• Quora – Quora has the best discussions on Boot Camp programming and is regularly visited by Boot Camp founders and staff to answer questions.
For now, this type of training is available for future programmers. I found a similar bootcamp for marketing, but I'm not sure it would have the same application and value as programming bootcamps, and that's the big question - this new format of intense learning be successfully applied to other areas of employment? If so, it could radically change the way education, jobs, and the world works. At the very least, it could offer students an educational alternative to college or frustrated employees with a viable way to quickly change careers.
Although I have considered these bootcamps myself, my current career path is freelance writing and teaching others. how to stay focused on my blog, Deep Existence. If you sign up for the Deep Existence newsletter (Tuesdays), you will receive two valuable gifts for free:my anti-stress e-book and an exclusive set of 1080p wallpapers (40 wallpapers with quotes and images) . To learn more about these bonuses or to get updates, Click here and sign up. To your health!
What do you think of this new career opportunity?
Photo credit :Pablo Ruiz Muzquiz
